The University of Sydney is one of 15 Australian higher education institutions that have neglected to take a position on the Indigenous voice to parliament, as pressure mounts on the sector to step up its support ahead of the referendum.
Of Australia’s 41 universities, 25 have backed the recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the constitution, and 15 have withheld from a view. The University of Newcastle will reveal its position next month.
UNSW, Melbourne, Monash, ANU and the University of Queensland are all in support, while the University of Adelaide and University of WA have withheld despite senior figures privately supporting yes.
The University of Sydney is one of three Group of Eight heavyweights that have not publicly backed a yes vote.
The University of Sydney vice-chancellor, Mark Scott, and chancellor, Belinda Hutchinson, said there had been “several lengthy discussions” among the executive about how the university could “best engage” in public deliberation.
“There have been different perspectives,” they said last week.
“There were … concerns that a statement by the university indicating a position would … or seek to impose an institutional perspective on the individuals who form our community,” Scott and Hutchinson wrote.
“The top priority is for everyone to be informed on the key issues underpinning the referendum and be engaged in the democratic processes.”
The University of Sydney’s position places leadership at odds with Indigenous faculty members in support of the voice, including lawyer and member of the Voice Referendum Engagement Group Teela Reid.
The university’s Indigenous Strategy and Services Portfolio has also issued a “resounding yes” to the voice, as has the Law School.
Australia’s oldest institution has sat on the fence in the past, neglecting to take an institutional position during the 1967 referendum on a constitutional change in relation to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and the 2017 marriage equality plebiscite.
Reid said the leadership team “could’ve been much braver”, particularly as they confirmed they were both voting yes in their personal capacity.
“What it represents is the way ‘free speech’ gets weaponised in an Indigenous context … it’s not about giving a space for dissent,” she said.
“I think the ambiguity appeals to a loud few. It’s a political statement in and of itself.”
The peak body for tertiary education, Universities Australia, has also refrained from issuing an endorsement for the voice, provoking backlash at its conference earlier this year.
Prof Megan Davis, pro vice-chancellor Indigenous at UNSW, told the conference it was the “role of universities” to support the voice campaign.
“I don’t really stomach that we are mere facilitators of the debate,” she said in February.
“Silence is political.”
The education minister, Jason Clare, welcomed any organisation’s backing of a yes vote, while adding universities were “autonomous institutions that make their own decisions on matters like the voice”.
“I welcome the support of any organisation or individual that wants to recognise Indigenous Australians, listen to them and ultimately get better results for them and the nation,” he told Guardian Australia.
Charles Sturt University (CSU) was one of the latest universities to come onboard last week, backing the referendum as a “historic opportunity” to recognise First Nations people.
“We know that we do best on First Nations matters when we genuinely listen to First Nations voices,” it said. “We believe the same is true for the nation.”
Earlier in August, Western Sydney University’s board of trustees also pledged its public support to a change in the constitution.
In Victoria eight of 10 universities have pledged support, while in Western Australia three in five are in favour.
NSW universities are split down the middle, while just two in seven of Queensland’s higher education institutions are backing the voice. The University of South Australia is the state’s only university to support a yes vote.
